In a recent Sealed Air blog, Andrew Rushworth reflects on the fear of drug-resistant infectious diseases and the simple ways that we can protect ourselves.
Editor's Note: This blog originally appeared on Sealed Air Diversey Care's website.
In 1900 the top three killers in the world were pneumonia/influenza, tuberculosis and diarrhea. Within 100 years, the only one of these still on the list of top ten killers was pneumonia/influenza. At number seven, its total attributable deaths are a fraction of 100 years before. The main drivers for the collapse in mortality rates caused by infectious diseases include vaccination, improved sanitation and hygiene practices, and the advent of antibiotics which in many cases turned potential killers into minor discomforts.
We have long heard the drumbeat from the medical community warning of the dangers of irresponsible over prescription of antibiotics, and the potential for certain strains of bacteria to develop resistance to the various categories of antibiotics, the arrival of the so-called superbugs. As the bacteria have evolved, the medical community has turned to more and more powerful antibiotics to fight back. However, it now seems that the arsenal is empty as the U.S. has joined the growing list of countries where a patient has become infected by a bacteria resistant to an antibiotic of last resort, in this case by a strain of E coli1.
Doctors in the U.S. write over 11.4 million needless prescriptions every year.
"It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in Washington. Already the cost to the American healthcare system of dealing with infections resistant to one or more antibiotics is $20 billion a year.
We are seeing a growth in the number of cases of Sepsis in the U.S. According to the CDC the total number of cases almost doubled between 2000 and 2008, rising to 1.14 million, of which just over 200,000 were fatal. The two most frequently diagnosed causes were the gram negative bacteria E. coli and MRSA, the methicillin resistant gram positive strain of Staphylococcus aureus.